Download the April 2024 Quarterly Project Update.
Note: images are included in the pdf version of the update.

WHERE WE’RE AT

Hospital construction completion is ahead of schedule!

Originally scheduled for end of September 2024, substantial completion of the new hospital – when Northern Health takes ownership of the new building – is now set for end of August. Staff now have three months to get oriented and trained in the new facility, and prepare for patient care.

Check out the new MMH construction timelapse video!

Project milestones

• New Seven Sisters is now open
• New hospital set to open late November this year
• Boilers are operating; oxygen tank is full
• Deficiency tests, compliance inspections and systems commissioning happening throughout new hospital
• Various new positions have been filled and significant efforts to recruit more physicians and staff continue

Residents and staff settling into new Seven Sisters

Staff and residents successfully moved into the new Seven Sisters, spending their first night there on February 6. Seven Sisters is a regional mental-health facility that provides long-term rehabilitation and recovery programs for adults living with serious and persistent mental illness.

The new Seven Sisters, which is part of the MMH Replacement project, is nearly twice as big as the previous one and has 25 patient beds, an increase from 20. Along with new, modern furniture and equipment, staff and patients will benefit from many new features, including a multi-sensory room, various recreational spaces, more treatment rooms, and staff and meeting spaces.

Check out the new Seven Sisters construction timelapse video!

WHERE WE’RE GOING

Preparing for the big move and future operations

We are getting ready to open the new hospital at the end of November 2024, just a few months away!

To ensure a smooth move and operations, many details need to be in place. All hands are on deck, working hard to ensure the transition to the new hospital is as positive and comfortable an experience as possible for all patients and staff.

Planning for the actual physical move is underway. We are working closely with Health Care Relocations (HCR), a company that specializes in healthcare facility transitions. The company will support with operational readiness, the physical move between the facilities, and the activation of the new hospital.

MMH managers will be meeting individually with company representatives to discuss department-specific details. For example, some departments will have equipment that requires the help of a vendor. Items from the hospital can be moved in various phases. The goal is to move as few items as possible when patients are moved.

For a hospital the size of MMH, the move will likely be completed within one week and the actual patient move in one day. To help with the transition, and with the support of regional staff and other hospitals, we will aim to reduce activity and patient levels at MMH leading up to the move. Stay tuned for more info as we continue to get ready!

Walk this way­­ – on our new pathways

PCL is preparing the ground in front of the new hospital’s main entrance on Tetrault Street for sidewalks, landscaping and paving. Some sidewalks and pathways have already been installed on the west and south side of the new hospital, and more are underway. These need to be in place for the hospital to open.

Some areas will be landscaped later this year, but most landscaping work will happen in 2025 and 2026, after the demolition of the current hospital.

HIGHLIGHTS: WAYFINDING KIOSK, VIRTUAL SKYLIGHTS

Two examples of technology aimed at enhancing the patient experience in the new Terrace hospital include a wayfinding kiosk and virtual skylights.

Patients and visitors will need help getting around the significantly larger new hospital. Much thought has been put into the wayfinding system for the new site. One interactive piece of that system is an electronic wayfinding kiosk in the main lobby. The kiosk will have a touch screen, similar to those found in many airports and shopping malls. The kiosk will help orient people to the building and get them where they want to go.

Another example of technology in the new facility that will benefit patients and staff is virtual skylights in the Spect-CT room and in the MRI room.

"It's basically a large light box above where patients lie down on the scan table. A nature image and the light let them imagine they are looking out a window or skylight,” says Marina Downs, Diagnostic Imaging Manager at MMH. “The idea is to create a more soothing environment in one that can often feel cold and sterile. The skylights will help patients feel more relaxed. In turn, they are more likely to hold still during their exams.”

CELEBRATING MMH THROUGH STORIES

Over the past 80 years, MMH has been part of many families’ stories – stories of joy, hope, change, and loss. As we look forward to the new hospital, we want to honour special moments that occurred at MMH. Check out the next page to read some of stories we’ve received so far. The stories are truly special and we thank everyone who’s shared so far!

We want to hear your story!

Help us honour the existing Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace and all those who have worked and received care there. Go to Let’s Talk MMH to learn more. Download a story submission form.

YOUR MMH STORIES…

Vi Timmerman

“My introduction to Terrace was Dr. REM Lee. We arrived the summer of 1969 and I needed gallbladder surgery. I was told by my Doctor in Langley that “the best doctor in the province is in Terrace." He really was an excellent doctor.

Several years later Dr. Kenyon saved a family member’s life. We’ll always be grateful to him and our community is fortunate to have him.

Three of my grandchildren and four great grandchildren were all born at Mills Memorial Hospital. We have always received excellent care and wish the best of luck to all the staff.”

Birgitta van Heek

“I have never forgotten the year Mills Memorial Hospital opened – 1961. I was in Grade 7 at the time and played in the Skeena Secondary Band at the official opening. My classmate Lorne King and I lived on the bench and would travel to practices together…. dressed that day in our Skeena colours...silky satin purple and gold uniforms!

I played the trumpet­ – at least attempted to. I am not musical at all and not sure how I qualified to be in the band! That was the only time I remember performing and my musical career ended shortly thereafter but I will never forget that memorable event.”

Alexi Rivera

“In 1989 I lived in Rosswood. I had very bad asthma and got sick quite often. This particular time I got pneumonia and was really sick.

I spent three weeks in the children’s ward. I turned 13 in the hospital and for my birthday, the nurses bought me a cake. The nurses were amazing and caring the whole time.

I lived with my grandparents. As we lived in Rosswood, my Grandma wasn’t always able to come visit ­– definitely not every day­ – but the nurses made me feel the love I was missing.

The nurses were also good with letting my friends come to see me. I went to school at Cassie Hall (across the street) so my friends would come to see me after school sometimes. Of course, kids being kids, we could get noisy but the nurses were pretty chill about it. The old Mills will always be in my memory because of this experience.”

Cameron Orr

“We needed to arrange the birth of our second child in Terrace rather than in Kitimat, where we live. We'd come to the hospital many times leading up to the birth day, and the day of was wonderful. We even took a walk at Ferry Island before heading to the hospital for the evening. Our doctor was amazing and the birth went very smoothly. The nurses were also stellar.

It was a quiet night and they offered – and we accepted – for them to walk with our baby in a carrier while they went about their tasks. This was a great transition to having two kids for us. Our baby is now nearly five and we remember our stay at MMH well.”

INTERESTED IN WORKING AT THE NEW HOSPITAL?

A number of positions need to be filled at the current and future hospital ranging from clinical, support services, administration, and more! For more info and a list of job opportunities at the new Terrace hospital, go to Let’s Talk MMH and download the MMH employment flyer.

Go to Northern Health Careers to search for current openings and positions for the existing and new hospital that are already posted.